1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display apparatus which displays the adjustment setting of a ski binding. More particularly, the invention is directed to a numeric display apparatus which displays the threshold force which results in ejection of the boot from the binding.
2. Material Disclosure Statement and Description of Background
In what is now conventional, ski bindings comprise at least one elastic element which biases an abutment jaw located in front of the boot or in the rear against the heel into a central position for the positive maintenance of the boot. The jaw or maintenance element is adapted to pivot with respect to a support connected to the ski in a manner so as to free the boot when it exerts a force on the jaw which exceeds a given value known as the "release threshold".
It is essential for the safety of the skier that the force exerted permanently by the elastic element on the jaw can be adjusted to a predetermined value at release, which corresponds to the release threshold. The actual setting is a function of various parameters, particularly of the skill and weight of the skier, as well as the type of trail or course being skied, and snow conditions. Also, some apparatus allow for a "harder" or "softer" adjustment, depending upon how aggressively the course is being skied.
Additionally, once this adjustment has been set, it is important that the skier be able at any time to ascertain that his original adjustment has not been modified to a substantial extent by, for example, forces to which the elastic element may be subjected, or as a result of an adjustment made by another skier.
Thus, a number of bindings exist which include an indicator for indicating the absolute force adjustment which in turn can be correlated to the release threshold. The elastic system which applies a force on the jaw comprises a movable element biased by a spring which is itself compressed to varying degrees by the position of the adjustment element which is accessible to the user. The indication of the position of the adjustment element is nothing more than an indication of the position of the adjustment element with respect to a fixed element, for example the relative position of a reference point on a screw with respect to a fixed nut, or of the position of the movable element with respect to another reference element. To allow for as rapid a reading as possible, these relative positions are translated by the position of a pointer with respect to a graduated scale or by an equivalent means. Such apparatus are described in French patent application Nos. 2,201,107; 2,215,983; 2,228,509; 2,328,956; and 2,449,458, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference thereto.
Whatever attempts have been made in any of the known apparatus to increase the facility or the precision with which the adjustment can be read by the user, the adequacy of these measures is clearly limited by virtue of the dimensions which must necessarily remain as small as possible, and the ubiquitous difficulty of appreciating accidental changes at a single glance, or changes due to use that the adjustment value may have undergone since the last intentional adjustment of the device. As a result, skiers have come to rely more on their own intuition, together with the potential risks which this implies, rather than effectively verifying the position of the adjustment, due to the imprecision and the difficulty of reading the adjustment which this would entail.